That Which Was Lost
by clanKorval
Summary: {Death Gate Cycle} Yay! My first Death Gate fic! Haplo and Marit's rune-joining, search for Rue, and return to the Nexus - probably doesn't merit a PG-13 rating, but just to be safe...
1. RuneJoined

Author's Note: I just finished The Seventh Gate, and I loooooooooved it! For a while there I thought they were going to let Haplo die, and that would have broken my heart- :-( - love breaks the heart, you know. Anyway, back on topic... I thought this up because I was curious about the search for Rue.  
  
All standard disclaimers apply.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Marit sighed and turned to Haplo. They had searched every camp of Patryns around the Final Gate and the Nexus, with no sign of their Rue. They had found two girls with that name, but one was too young and the other knew her parents, who were both Squatters and had raised the girl themselves.  
  
She focused on Haplo, slid her hand into his. He was still weak from his fight with Lord Xar and the serpent, no matter what he might say. She gently pulled him down to sit next to her, just outside the Patryn and Sartan camps in the Labyrinth, arrayed around the Final Gate.  
  
"You really should rest, you know."  
  
Haplo grimaced. "I've already healed myself. What more do you want?"  
  
"You're wearing yourself out."  
  
"I thought you wanted to find our daughter."  
  
"But not at the expense of your health!"  
  
It was Haplo's turn to sigh. Knowing he was beat, he headed back to the camp. "Tomorrow, we'll head farther into the Labyrinth."  
  
Marit shuddered. She never thought she would be agreeing to go back into the hellish nightmare of a prison. "Yes. Tomorrow." She wasn't about to let him faint on her, like Alfred.  
  
Handfast, they headed back into camp. They had a small tent of their own, as did Alfred, attached to the camp of the Abri Patryns. After staying a moment with Headman Vasu, they headed to their own tent. Marit sat on a map, began checking her weapons out of habit before she realized that she had not used them today. She relaxed a tiny bit. There was a certain anticipation in the air; surprisingly, neither the Labyrinth creatures nor the serpents had attacked, but the uneasy peace felt like the calm before the storm.  
  
She moved to sit next to Haplo; he slipped his arm around her waist and she tried to relax against him, shake off the uneasiness.  
  
They sat together in silence for a while before she looked up, found that Haplo was looking down at her very oddly.  
  
"Marit," he whispered, voice husky, "what's your view on rune- joining?"  
  
She smiled, knowing what was coming. "Well, depends on who it's with. My other husband was a bit—masterful."  
  
"Would you rune-join with me?"  
  
Although she had been expecting him to ask ever since Lord Xar had died, the question still sent shivers of pleasure down her spine. "Of course," she replied, and she allowed Haplo to pull her into his lap and kiss her deeply, although she stopped him before his lips could move on to her neck.  
  
"We'll need ink and a bodkin," she whispered, and gently stood up, pulling Haplo to his feet as well.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Upon returning to their tent, Marit sat back on her ankles as Haplo knelt in front of her, straddling her knees. The Patryn from whom they borrowed the ink and bodkin had been able to tell what it was for, and had grinned when Haplo slid his arm around Marit's waist.  
  
Marit sighed as the bodkin pricked the scarred flesh of her forehead where Xar's rune had been. Unlike her joining with Xar, Haplo's boundless love for her, along with his magic, flowed into her soul and body as he tattooed her forehead. The rush of elation she felt nearly swallowed up, and when she opened her eyes again, she could see the joy shining in Haplo's face.  
  
Marit sighed when he was through, and would have collapsed onto the sitting mat but for Haplo's strong arms. He held her close until she was more clear-headed, at which time he and hugged her and handed her the bodkin, changing his position so that he knelt before her.  
  
Looking at the burning excitement in his face, she leaned close to tattoo his forehead in turn, her blood from the bodkin mingling with his. The ecstasy raced back, and she loved him as never before, loving his very soul, pouring her magic, her life, and her life's experiences into him. They were irreversibly linked, heart to heart, mind to mind, and soul to soul.  
  
When it was done, she pushed the ink and bodkin away to the side of the tent and took him in her arms. he slipped his hands up to the back of her head and tried to kiss her, but she gently put her hand to his lips and pressed their foreheads together, one sigil against the other, to complete the rune-joining. After the last rush of magic, their lips touched, and they held each other close for a long, long time before doing away with each other's clothes and pulling each other onto the sleeping mat. 


	2. Discovery

One Month Later  
  
It took two days to reach the next Squatter camp. It was another temporary one, comprised of several tribes. These were Patryns from the farther reaches of the Labyrinth, who were slowly migrating towards the Final Gate. As they encountered others heading the same way, they banded together for the journey, forming larger camps. They were few and far between, though, and it would take a great while to search all of them. Well, that's not really a problem, thought Haplo wryly. We have to spend the rest of our lives in the Labyrinth and the Nexus anyway, fighting the serpents and the Sartan until we can learn to live together.  
  
Haplo and Marit went first to the headmen of each tribe, asking if there was a small girl by the name of Rue in the tribe. The answer was 'no' every time; accordingly, Haplo and Marit were experiencing the all-too- familiar feeling of discouragement, of false hopes dashed, by the time they reached the last one, a woman by the name of Treasa.  
  
Haplo stayed a step behind his wife as she asked the headman about their daughter. "Excuse me, Sister," she began, "but we're searching for our daughter---"  
  
"A girl of seven or eight Gates, by the name of Rue?" Treasa laughed. "Word travels fast in this camp, my Sister. As a matter of fact, we do. She was taken in not so long ago, at the age of, say, five. The woman she had been traveling with had been attacked by a pack of chaodyn, and died only a day or so after we found her. Mater has raised the girl since then." She gestured to a tent near the edge of the camp.  
  
Marit thanked the woman and fell into step alongside him. Haplo could see she was excited. He himself hardly dared to hope — he never he had wished for anything, the Labyrinth had done its best to dash those hopes.  
  
Entering the tent, Haplo stopped in the doorway to let his eyes adjust, as did Marit. The first thing they saw was an extraordinary amount of children. "They must have a communal mother, to take in all of the strays," Haplo said quietly. Some tribes did; others simply allowed women to adopt children as their own. In cases where there was one, the woman took on all the duties of a real mother, including teaching her children how to fight and survive in the Labyrinth, since most would soon be Runners, sometimes as young as twelve or thirteen Gates.  
  
He and Marit separated to look at each little girl, ask her name. Two, sitting in the corner, deep in conversation, caught his eye; they seemed to be good friends, and they weren't paying much attention to the others.  
  
"Excuse me," Haplo interrupted awkwardly, "but I'm looking for a girl named Rue. Can you tell me which one of your sisters she is?"  
  
The taller girl sat up a little straighter. "That would be me," she said in a small voice. It sounded as if she was afraid she'd done something wrong.  
  
"Come into the light," Haplo instructed, backing up. She obeyed, and as she stood up her eyes locked on Haplo's. His own eyes looked back at him, as if he looked in a mirror. He inhaled sharply, startled. As he looked closer, he could see some of Marit's features in the girl also. Although all Patryns have brown hair tipped with white-blonde, the shades of brown were as varied as the Patryns themselves. Rue had Marit's dark, chestnut locks versus Haplo's light, smoky hair.  
  
"Marit! Marit, come over here!" It was his turn to be excited. She hurried to his side, knelt in front of the child. Silently, Haplo withdrew to find Mater. She was teaching a group of her older children the finer points of wielding a knife, and when summoned by Haplo left the eldest among them to help the younger.  
  
"Excuse me, Sister, but we have a few questions about one of your daughters," said Haplo, indicating Marit and Rue.  
  
"Certainly." Her eyes jumped from Marit to Haplo, and it was obvious to her what they wanted to ask. She told Haplo about the girl as they walked over to Marit and Haplo. "You are wondering whether Rue is your daughter. She was brought to us by a woman, Aroha, who died the next day."  
  
Marit looked up. "Aroha? She was the woman who was to raise Rue!" Her eyes and Haplo's locked on to those of their newfound daughter, who was beginning to understand. She picked up the girl and held her close. Tears smarted in her eyes.  
  
Haplo put his arms around his new wife and gazed in wonder at the girl who was his daughter. He ran his fingers through her hair and said, "Rue? We've come to take you home."


End file.
